These Flames
by Today.Is.Life
Summary: Because she's Gabriela Dawson, and you love her, and you need her to be alive. Set halfway through season 2, after Matt has dealt with Hallie's death. Will be Dawson/Casey. All other characters included too. Will be M rating.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! **

**This is something that I wrote up, not really sure where I was going with it. I am now hoping to build a story around it, and I hope you like this short little chapter enough to be interested in a story with further chapters. I hope to have chapters up soon, and for those of you who enjoy my story 'Are you dreaming about Lt. Matthew Casey?' another update will be up tonight or tomorrow.**

**So I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review to tell me if you like it and if I should continue!**

**Happy Sunday!**

**oxoxoxo**

* * *

Your heart races rapidly in your chest. Your ears pound with the intensity of the situation. Sweat drips from your forehead and steams up your mask. The smoke clouds your vision, and you only hope that you're going the right way. You can feel the heat from the roaring flames and you try to focus on moving your feet, climbing stairs upon stairs. This seems like any other fire, any other intense situation, but it's not. You have to move faster, you have focus more; you _have _to climb that last flight of stairs. Because you're not just hoping to find a stranger buried within all the smoke, you're hoping to find one of your own. You have to find them. Because they're family, they're yours, you love them and everyone loves them. You push on with a driving passion to keep them alive for yourself, for the house, for their family, for them. You have to see those eyes again, that face, that hair, that body. We lost Andy, you lost Hallie and you sure as hell won't lose another. You won't allow yourself to lose another; you won't allow them to die, because you love them. It took all this for you to realise it, it took the prospect of losing them for your stupid self to realise what you'd felt along, what you'd felt for years and you hid it all away until now. And you hope to God that you get the chance to tell her, because the fire's getting hotter and the smoke is getting thicker and that chance is slimming every second. Your heart jumps in your throat when you get to the top of the stairs and you fear for her now. You get to her apartment and the memories of last night flood your mind, you hope you can feel her like that again. You have too, you need too, and you can't lose her. Because she's Dawson. She's Gabriela Dawson, and you love her, and you need her to be alive.

You will not lose another.

Because she's Gabriela Dawson, and you love her, and you need her to be alive.

You kick open the door and scream.


	2. Chapter 2

It'd been six months since Casey returned from his two month break, to deal with Hallie's death. He travelled mostly, and when he was home he worked on his house. The break seemed to have done him a lot of good. He came back with a clear head and had found some peace with Hallie and her death. He had returned to normal, realising he could move on but never forget her. Casey seemed happy.

Renee had returned from Madrid, pregnant with Severide's baby. He was happy until he realised she did not want to keep the baby once it was born. That hit him hard, and with the whole situation with Shay it made everything else so much worse. Baby Jack was born four months ago, and a few days later Renee returned to Madrid, giving Shay her blessing to adopt baby Jack, with the promise that she'd never see them again. Severide was lost and confused for a while, but the gorgeous little boy brought him quickly out of that. He was a natural - a great father to Jack - and Shay was wonderful too. I'd never seen neither of them so happy. Then a month later I was made Jack's godmother, I cried all day.

Herrmann and Cindy and their children were doing wonderfully. Baby Kenny was growing too fast and was so healthy, given the scare he gave us all at his birth. He already had a flare for the dramatics, but all five children were great.

Mouch had found happiness with his new girlfriend Mari. She was a lovely woman and perfect for Mouch - they balanced each other out. We'd never seen him smile so much.

And as for Peter and I, we left things where they were. It was for the best and I was happy being single. For a moment we all thought Peter would leave for the police acadamy, but he quickly changed his mind to stay at 51. Currently I was trying to move out of my apartment because of the endless amount of things wrong with it. Recently it was my front door, which was hanging off its hinges.

"What? You can't fix it? That's bullshit! Do you know how much I pay you a month for that shitty apartment, huh? And you can't fix my door that's hanging off it's hinges! You're such an asshole Martin! Yeah, yeah, screw you!" I hiss sharply, and I slam my phone down on the benches and kicked the lockers to go with it.

"Problem with the landlord again?" Her voice comes out of nowhere and makes me jump out of my skin. My head snaps up and Shay's leaning against the edge of the lockers, watching me with a sympathic look on her face.

"You heard that didn't you?"

She nods, "Kinda hard not too. What you gonna do about your door?"

"No clue, pointless now though. Most of my stuff has probably been stolen now."

Shay grimaces, "That bad huh?"

I nod and sigh, "I'm thinking of looking for another apartment anyway, maybe I'll have better luck somewhere else."

"Why don't you ask Casey to take a look at it?"

"W-what?"

Shay rolls her eyes and tuts, "Casey? You know, the guy who owns a construction business who can fix your door? Your friend..._Casey_," she stresses his last name to make her point while shaking her head at me.

I knaw at my lip nervously while deflecting her comments, "I bet he's busy anyway, it's fine. I'll have a look at it when I get home."

She snorts with laughter and waves her hand at me, "You? That's something I'd love to see."

I roll my eyes at her but I don't reply grabbing my jacket from the bench, until she smirks, "You're such a pussy."

"Pussy?" I question while stopping in my tracts and a confused look takes over my face.

Shay snorts again only with more enthusiusam, "You won't go near Casey because you're afraid ergo _pussy._"

I head to the door with a scurry in my step, my stomach flipping with nervous, "I'm not doing this Shay."

"You can't avoid this forever Dawson!"

* * *

An hour later I walked past Shay and Casey who were having a conversation when I heard my name within all the words, and scurried off in the opposite direction as I knew what Shay was telling him. _Traitor_, I thought viciously. She knew exactly why I was avoiding Casey.

When the alarm rung for us to attend a suspected broken leg injury, I scowled at Shay when she mentioned she'd told Casey, saying it was for my '_apartment's benefit,' _and she laughed at me when I told her she was a traitor.

I was in the bathroom scrubbing off the paint Otis so gracefully tipped over me while I was helping him repaint the scuffed wall in the corridor when the door opened and goosebumps erupted on my skin.

"Hey, I've been looking for you," he says cheerfully as his smile brightens up the dingy room, _No Dawson. Stop it. Hallie._

His brow burrows adorably as he takes in the white paint I was covered in, "Otis," I laugh softly, and that was explanation enough.

"How are you?" I ask tenatively but with geniune concern, we hadn't spoken much lately and that was partly my fault. No, all my fault. And that was selfish of me, especially with what he's been dealing with.

Casey nods a few times and the smile stays on his face, which I did not expect, "I'm good, great really. Yourself?" He softly touches my arm and I can no longer look in his eyes, so I revert my gaze to the sink.

"I'm okay," I answer shortly, continuing the scrubbing of my skin.

"Shay told me about your landlord and I won't have you left without a proper door, would you like me to come over and take a look at it?"

I roll my eyes, "It's like deja vu, isn't it?" Referring to the time when he fitted my window, the night we almost kissed.

Oh god, did I just say that? You can't do this Dawson. Hallie, she was your friend, and you want her fiance? The man she would have spent her life with? You can't do that to her, to her memory.

His grin only widens more as he recolects what happened before, and something shone in his eyes that made me feel guilty, "I guess it is, yes. So after shift? At six?"

The knawing of my lip was painful, but I didn't stop it, "Are you sure? I-I mean, would you mind?"

Casey's hand reaches up a with his thumb, he gently pryes my lips free from my teeth and the feeling of his skin touching mine heats me with an unimagineable desire.

"No," he shakes his head softly, "after everything you've done to help me it's the least I owe you."

"Thank you," I whisper, I was completley awed by him and I felt like I could melt in his arms.

"Gabby..." he stutters about to say something as his eyes fought with himself, "I'll see you at six then?" The use of my first name startled me, but in ways that I didn't expect. The way my name fell off his lips sent lustful tingles throught my body.

"Yeah, sure," I say breathily, and he smiles and turns saying, "Have a good shift Dawson."

I already missed my first name on his lips.


End file.
